randy1149
New member
If your like me you hate the chore of chain maintenance. Cleaning and oiling is really a pain in the a$$ and worse if you don't have a center stand (I put one on... that's another thread). But even with a center stand didn't make me like cleaning the chain any better. So, early on I installed an automatic oiler. There's quite a few ones out there and quite involved with electronics. I ran across a gravity feed oiler with no electronics or buttons to push, a Tutoro oiler (link Tutoro). The Tutoro controls the oil by an adjustable valve. I'm not endorsing the oiler over any other ones, as the reason for this post is the endorsing of chain oilers are a great answer to chain maintenance.
One of the greatest improvement to chain maintenance is there is no more chain maintenance with an oiler. The oil applied to the chain does 2 things. 1. it oils the chain, and 2. it keeps the chain clean as oil flings off taking dirt with it. I do have to wipe my chain guard every once in a while from the oil that's flung off, but that's a 10 second job. I went all last year without having to clean or adjust the chain. I cleaned it this year as part of taking the bike out of winter storage. I don't expect to clean it again this year.
I have 6K miles on the chain with the oiler, I have not have to adjust the chain since I put the oiler on. What I did notice when I first put the oiler on, after a few rides I lost all the slack that was in the chain. This can be explained when the oiler filled all the spaces between the rollers it took the slack out... I had to loosen the chain. That is a very important effect to the chain when considering chain wear and longevity, where the was metal to metal in the rollers was filled with oil.
I highly recommend an oiler if you hate chain maintenance as I do. Considering I have not had to adjust the chain after 6K miles, the chain should last 30K at least. I installed the oiler onto the saddle bag mounting support. A few pix below.
One of the greatest improvement to chain maintenance is there is no more chain maintenance with an oiler. The oil applied to the chain does 2 things. 1. it oils the chain, and 2. it keeps the chain clean as oil flings off taking dirt with it. I do have to wipe my chain guard every once in a while from the oil that's flung off, but that's a 10 second job. I went all last year without having to clean or adjust the chain. I cleaned it this year as part of taking the bike out of winter storage. I don't expect to clean it again this year.
I have 6K miles on the chain with the oiler, I have not have to adjust the chain since I put the oiler on. What I did notice when I first put the oiler on, after a few rides I lost all the slack that was in the chain. This can be explained when the oiler filled all the spaces between the rollers it took the slack out... I had to loosen the chain. That is a very important effect to the chain when considering chain wear and longevity, where the was metal to metal in the rollers was filled with oil.
I highly recommend an oiler if you hate chain maintenance as I do. Considering I have not had to adjust the chain after 6K miles, the chain should last 30K at least. I installed the oiler onto the saddle bag mounting support. A few pix below.